Chapter Twenty-Six
Luke peeked around the corner at the redhead sitting in one of the Executor's lounges, going over datapads. She shifted position, curling one foot underneath her, and he ducked back around the corner, not wanting her to see him. For a little slip of a girl, she was downright scary.
But pretty damn cute, too . . .
No! She was the enemy! Wasn't she working for his – for Vader? Though she didn't seem to like him much.
Why was he even here? He would like to talk to her, but she looked about ready to bite someone. He didn't want to be that someone.
If you don't approach her now, you never will, a little voice inside his head that sounded like Aunt Beru admonished him. He stepped forward.
She didn't even look up until he was standing directly over her. Then she gave him a glare so icy he quickly sat down in the chair next to her. She resumed ignoring him.
Luke gulped. "Um . . . hello," he said.
She didn't even blink.
"I'm Luke . . . but I guess you knew that. You're Mara, right?"
Her head snapped around. "You may call me Emperor's Hand," she informed him haughtily.
"You work for the Emperor?" Luke replied, surprised. "I thought --"
"That I work for Vader?" She snorted. "Not in this lifetime. Vader's coming so close to treason it's not even funny."
"But he's the Emperor's right hand ma--"
"No, I am the Emperor's Hand. Vader is just his lackey. The Emperor thinks Vader wants to overthrow him, that's why he's training you himself, otherwise he wouldn't mind letting him train you."
Luke's eyes went wide. "The Emperor wanted to train me?"
She glared at him. "Let me give you some advice, Skywalker. Don't get to attached to Vader, even if he is your father. When the push comes to shove, Vader's going down. And if you know what's good for you, you'll side with the Emperor against him." She got up and walked away, leaving a slack-jawed Luke behind.
"Hey, Jix?" a voice asked from the doorway.
Vader's agent sat up from digging in a drawer and swung his chair around and looked at his visitor. "Hey, kid. C'mon in."
Luke entered the small room, looking around with interest at Jix's cluttered living space. "I was just wondering about Mara. She says she works for the Emperor, and . . . well . . ."
"She does work for the Emperor," Jix replied, going back to his hunt for something or other. "She's the One and only Emperor's Hand!" he finished dramatically, beginning to shove things off the bed in a fruitless effort to find whatever he was looking for.
"Or so she thinks," another voice rumbled.
Luke jumped up and whirled around, and came face to chest with Vader. He sat back down in an effort to stay out of the Dark Lord's space.
But Vader wasn't paying any attention to him. He was looking at Jix, his head cocked to one side as if he was amused by something. Then he held out a datapad.
"Looking for this, Jixton?"
Jix pounced on it. "Yes! Why didn't you tell me you had it? I've been looking everywhere!"
"Why were you talking about Mara Jade?" Vader asked instead of answering.
"Luke wanted to know," Jix replied, casually flipping his hand in Luke's direction as he scanned the datapad.
Vader turned to look at Luke, who cast his gaze on the floor and pretended he was invisible.
"What did she tell you?" Vader asked after a moment, a slight bite to his voice.
How does he know I talked to her? Luke wondered.
"This is my ship, I know everything," Vader replied.
Now Luke understood. "Stay out of my head!"
"What did Jade say to you?"
"She said you're planning treason against the Emperor, and that you're only a lackey, and that he trusts her more than he trusts you," Luke told him reluctantly.
Vader's huge chest expanded even more as he took a deep breath. "First of all, I am the Sith Lord, not her. She's only a Hand, and contrary to what she believes, he has multiple Hands – dozens, in fact."
"That sounds so weird," Jix commented. "He has multiple hands . . ."
"Secondly," Vader continued as if Jix hadn't even spoken, "If I was planning treason, I would not invite her to Vjun with us. She may only be a Hand, but she has a quick, brilliant mind and she is one of the strongest in the Force among the Hands."
"Yeah, if you're going bring an enemy into your midst, bring a stupid one," Jix added.
"Thirdly," Vader kept going, "until she can be sure of her allies, she should not be speaking so on this ship. Most of the crew are loyal to me, not the Empire, and would not appreciate her saying such things. That carelessness is why the Emperor has me remove thorns, while she only scratches at itches."
And with that, he swept back out the door.
"Oh," Luke said, slightly confused. He turned to Jix. "So which version is the right one?"
"That's the question, isn't it?"
Leia looked both ways to make sure no one was coming before she left her room, only to walk into the insufferable Han Solo as she turned a corner.
He caught her arm to keep her from falling, and as she wrenched herself out of his grip, she nearly toppled over again. Once she had regained her composure, she continued on her way without a word.
Of course, he had to follow her. Evil nerfherder.
"Of all the people I could run into on this waste of firepower, I couldn't get a nice, anonymous ensign, could I?" she groused at him. "No, I have to get you. I'd almost say you're stalking me."
"Why would I want to stalk you?" he replied, arching an eyebrow.
She made a sound that was half scream, half groan, and took off down the hallway, much to his surprise.
She turned a corner. "Wait!" he called – that was the way to the hangar bay! He ran after her.
Leia grinned as she heard Solo's footsteps pound past the door she was hiding behind. She turned away from the door into the room --
-- and came face to face with R2-D2, C-3PO, and a giant, hairy Wookiee. She shrieked in surprise.
"Mistress Leia, Mistress Leia, it's perfectly alright! Chewbacca here is in charge of the droids aboard the Executor. We have received excellent care at his hands – I mean, paws – I mean --"
"I know what you mean, Threepio," she interrupted, getting her bearings back. She held her hand out to the Wookiee. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance . . . Chewbacca, is it?"
The Wookiee looked doubtfully at her tiny hand and nodded. Then he growled.
"Chewbacca says he doesn't wish to be rude, but your hand is too small for him to shake. He is afraid he will hurt you."
Leia smiled and withdrew her hand. "I appreciate your concern."
He barked gruffly and motioned for her to sit down. She accepted.
Han banged into Chewie's maintenance room an hour and a half later. "Chewie? You haven't seen – there you are, Your Worshipfulness. I've been looking everywhere for you."
"That's why I've been hiding," she replied acidly, glaring up at him from where she had been peering into a dismantled servodriver that Chewie was fixing. She looked down again. "What does this do?" she asked, pointing to a part inside the servodriver with interest.
Chewie replied and Goldenrod translated, but Han's attention was caught by Chewie's next question: Why do you and your brother have different last names?
Well, that was random, Han thought, then realized they were trading question for question as the Princess looked up sharply and asked when they had gotten into personal questions.
Chewie just shrugged.
Leia sighed, glared at Han, then said , "We were raised apart. I was formally adopted by the royal family of Alderaan, and he grew up with our aunt and uncle."
"So what's his last name?" Han asked, a little feeling in the back of his mind telling him he really should ask this.
She glared again, but said grudgingly, "Skywalker."
Skywalker. Where had he heard that name before? Then it dawned on him.
. . . you remind me of someone I once knew, a man I was . . . very close to at one point in time. His name was Skywalker. I have denied for years that I still consider him . . . something of . . . a partner, or . . . friend . . .
Han turned and dashed out of the room, much to the surprise of Leia and Chewie..
"Father, help me! Please! Father!" Luke called through his pain as he writhed on the floor, a victim of Sidious's Force lightning. Vader stood beside Sidious, watching.
He had to help, he had to. But he was frozen in place, unable to move at all.
Luke cries eventually subsided, and he lay limp within the electricity that had overcome him.
His son was dead.
Vader awoke, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. He buried his face in his hands and was shocked to find his cheeks wet with tears. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried.
He threw the covers aside and moved to the viewport to watch the stars, as he always did whenever he needed to think. It was calming, somehow, to know that he was only one man in a galaxy of trillions. Somewhere, he figured, there must be someone out there with bigger problems than his.
But his were the only ones that mattered right now.
He had expected the vision, had expected it ever since he realized he had begun to care for the boy, but the content had disturbed him. He had expected to see Luke strike him down as the Emperor laughed in the background, or to see himself kill the boy as Sidious watched. Worst case scenario, as always.
But he seemed to be a magnet for worst case scenarios coming true.
He settled into his hyperbaric chamber and began to meditate. He knew sleep would be fruitless tonight.
Sidious called first thing in the morning.
"Lord Vader," he greeted the other Sith haughtily. It has come to my attention that there is another child you call your own."
Well, shit. But I should have known. Jade would never keep her mouth shut.
"Yes, Master. It seems the Organa girl and Skywalker are twins, raised apart on different worlds. It stands to reason that if the boy is mine, the girl is, too."
Sidious's nostrils flared at the insult to his intelligence. "Obviously. What I cannot understand is why I had to hear this information from my hand, and not from you."
"The girl has been difficult. I have been attempting to keep her from doing to much damage, whatever it may be. I was going to inform you of the situation after we had arrived on Vjun and she and her brother were securely settled at Bast Castle."
Sidious glared, but could not find a loophole in that lie quickly enough. "You try my patience, Lord Vader," he snapped, and ended that conversation.
Vader sighed. Thank the Force.
Han strode out of his room, where he had just finished doing research on Skywalker and Vader. Luke was in the database, but his parental records were not. There were no other Skywalkers. Vader appeared to have jumped on board the Imperial ship fully grown twenty-two years ago. He had no childhood at all.
So there was nothing for it but to confront Vader about his suspicions.
He lifted his hand to knock on Vader's door, when is swung open. The Dark Lord wanted out.
Han stepped aside and let his superior pass, but followed him down the hall. "My lord, do you remember what you told me years ago? About Skywalker?"
Was it his imagination, or did Vader's step falter just the tiniest little bit? "What about him?"
"Well, I just found out that Luke's last name is Skywalker, too. So all I want to know is – were you Skywalker? The friend you told me about?"
Vader swung around, gripping Han's bicep in a vicious grip. "If you tell anyone, Solo, I'll kill you. Slowly and painfully. Understand?"
Han's eyes were wide. "Yes, sir, but --"
"But nothing. Anakin Skywalker is dead. That is the end of it."
"Yes sir," Han replied as he processed that information away. He now had another name.
Anakin.
Wait a minute.
Anakin Skywalker . . .
The Jedi Knight!?
Han nearly fainted.